Means of mounting a character



Oct. 22, 1935. c oc 2,018,079

MEANS OF MOUNTING A CHARACTER Filed Feb. 21, 1934 INVENTOR. pep/aw Maz'oae' BY 6% Wan-4a;-

A TTORNEYS.

Patented Oct. 22, 1935 PATENT OFFICE MEANS OF MOUNTING.A CHARACTER Peter Macioci, Providence, R. I., assignor to Uncas Manufacturing Company, a corporation of Rhode Island Application February 21, 1934, Serial No. 712,375

4 Claims. (01. 40-143) This invention relates to the mounting of a character or letter upon a base, plate or other surface, which is to be observed; and has for one of its objects the provision of a construction by which a letter maybe easily and quickly mounted in position upon the base without the necessity of any tools and which may be conveniently operated by a retail merchant or even the purchaser of the article for satisfactorily holding the initial in position thereon.

Another object of the invention is the provision of means for manually securing the initial in position so that it will not rattle or become loosened.

Another object of the invention is the provision of such a securing means which in' addition to locking the letter on the base will also prevent its rotation relative to the base.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a font of'type which will be of such shape that the securing means may be mounted thereon in such a position as to properly locate the letter with respect to the base on which it is mounted.

A further object of the invention is the arrangement of a mounting so that the major portion of the letters of the alphabet will cover the mounting means without modification of their shaping.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of mounting means which will leave the rear surface of the base on which the letter is mounted smooth so that where a ring is used there will be no scratching or abrasion of the finger by the rear surface of the mounting means.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certain novel features of construction, as will be more fully described, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of the top of a ring employing this invention.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view looking at the inner side of the ring.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view before the characters have been assembled thereon.

Figs. 4 and 5 are front and rear perspective views of one of the characters.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the base and character with one of the securing fingers as bent into locking position.

Fig. '7 is a view similar to Figure 6 showing the securing finger as bent into locking position.

Fig. 8 is a sectional view on line 88 of Figure 6 of a fragmental portion of the base.

Fig. 9 is a perspective view illustrating the fingers as being bent into locking position by the 56 aid of a pencil.

Fig. 10 illustrates a plan view of certain letters of a font of type which are modified in shape to enable them to be used in connection with this invention.

In many forms of ornamentation, such as I jewelry, hand bags and the like, it is desirable to mount emblematical characters such as letters of the alphabet or other symbolic designations to denote certain individuality of the person, and in order that these may be carried out in a. manner 10 which will be simple to operate, even sufiiciently simple so as the letters may be assembled with the hands or a lead pencil and without the use of tools, I have provided the characters with a very ductile and bendable finger and the base with 15 suitable cooperating openings so that by a simple operation of placing the character in position and bending one ductile finger, I may secure the character on the surface to which it is desired it shall be mounted; and the following is a more detailed 20 description of the present embodiment of this invention illustrating the preferred means by which these advantageous results may be accomplished:

I have illustrated the invention as applied to a finger ring, although there may be many other 25 articles as I have above indicated to which it is applicable, and I have therefore referred to the portion of stock upon which the characters are mounted as a base, although this portion may have other suitable more specific and descriptive terms 30 in the particular article in which it is used.

This base is designated l5 and in the finger ring there is a shank I6 providing an encircling portion for forming a ring for positioning on the finger. This base [5 is provided with pairs of 35 openings I1 and I8 suitably located with reference to the general area of the base, and as illustrated in this embodiment of this invention, two pair are in a position which will be symmetrical with reference to the base. Thus I have 40 provided openings i1 and [8 at the lower right hand corner 19 of the base and also a similar pair of openings at the upper left hand corner 20 of the base.

The rear surface 2| of the base is recessed as 45 at 22 in an area to include openings I1 and [8, while the front or obverse face 23 is flush or in a single plane throughout the area about each of the openings.

The characters which are to be mounted upon 60 the base are designated generally 25 and are formed convex on their outer surface at 26 and concaved on their inner surface 21 so that their edges will contact throughout their extent with the flat or plain surface 23 of the base and may have sufflcient inherent resilience to be under tension when locked in position.

To this concaved surface 21, there is secured a U-shaped member 28 having a relatively long finger 29 and a relatively short finger 30, while the'connecting or bridge portion 3| is soldered or secured in any other suitable manner to the rear surf-ace of the character in such a position that the character will be symmetrically disposed with reference to the bridge portion and consequently symmetrically disposed with reference to the openings I1 and I8 in the base and thus the desired character may be positioned withits fingers-in these openings and it will assume a proper predetermined relation with respect to the base'when so mounted.

In order to mount a character on the base, it

is merely necessary for me to position the two fingers 29 and 30 in the openings l1 and I8 which fit snugly (it being understoodthat the openings and fingers are spaced the same distance apart on centers) and then I bend the longer finger 29 as at 32 so as to cause this long finger 29 to lie in the recess '22 in the rear surface of the base. If it is desired that the letter be under tension, pressure will be applied on the letter prior to and at the time of bending. The finger 30 is of a length so that it will not project beyond the stock about the opening I! and will be covered by the finger 29 7 when it is bent into locking position. The relative depth of the recess and thickness of the finger 29 is such that the finger will lie below the rear surface of the base so that there will T be no protruding parts which may serve to abrade or scratch any portion or part of the person with which the rearof this base may come in contact.

The material of which the fingers are formed is chosen as a very ductile material, so that 'in letter C. r

The foregoing description is directed solely towards the construction illustrated, but I desire it to be understood that I reserve the privilege 'of'resorting to all the mechanical changes to tending. through said opening and beyond the 7 rear surface of the base a distance to provide sufiicient leverage for sharp bending into said' recess by manual pressure when forced through the opening by flexing said resilient character to 15 hold it under tension in contact with the base.

I 2. In combination, a base having an obverse face and provided with a pair of openings extending through the base, a character resting against said face, and a pair of fingers secured 20 to said character and each extending into one of said openings, one of said fingers being longer than the other and extending beyond the stock of said base about said opening and being sharply bent to contact the base and extend over and cover the other finger to lock said character on said base.

3. In combination, a base having an obverse face and provided with a pair of openings extending through the base in close adjacency, a character resting against said face, a recess on the rear surface of said base adjoining said openings, and a pair of fingers secured to said character and each extending into one of said openings, one of the fingers being sufficiently short to extend short of said recess, and the other finger extending into said recess and bent to lie therein and over the shorter finger to lock the character in position.

4. In combination, a base having an obverse 40 face and provided with a pair of openings extending through the base in close adjacency, a character resting against said face, a recess on the rear surface of said base adjoining said openings, and a pair of fingers secured to said character and each extending into one of said openings, one of the fingers being sufliciently short to extendshort of said recess, and the other finger extending into said recess and bent to lie therein and over the shorter finger to lock PETER MACIOCI. 

